With the contracts for Versus and NBC done after this year who would love to see a return to ESPN? With the Winter Classic, rise in ratings, etc. I would love to see this because it would garner so much more attention to the NHL as a whole.

Why do NHL fans want the NHL to be more popular? With the CenterIce package, the NHL Network and the internet, it's not like we're lacking exposure to the game. The more popular the game becomes, the more difficult it is to get tickets and the more expensive the tickets become.

Here is something I don't understand: Why do NHL fans want the NHL to be more popular? With the CenterIce package, the NHL Network and the internet, it's not like we're lacking exposure to the game. The more popular the game becomes, the more difficult it is to get tickets and the more expensive the tickets become.Posted by Not-A-Shot

Its a cycle, as popularity goes down, issues arise etc. and then things happen such as the 04-05 lockout.

In Response to Re: NHL on ESPN : Read three times. Understood zero times.Posted by Not-A-Shot

How about you make a legitimate comment like rolerhoky19 that pertains to the discussion as oppossed to making an arrogant comment such as yours. You seem to be under the impression that you are better than most people in these discussions. But that is clearly not true if your still waiting on Zach Hamill.

In Response to Re: NHL on ESPN : How about you make a legitimate comment like rolerhoky19 that pertains to the discussion as oppossed to making an arrogant comment such as yours. You seem to be under the impression that you are better than most people in these discussions. But that is clearly not true if your still waiting on Zach Hamill.Posted by Jmbc14

I hate to pile on, but the first comment from NAS is dead on here, and nothing after that makes sense to me. Who cares if the NHL is popular across the country?

I used to care because it would mean more games on tv and more coverage on SportCenter if it was more popular. Now I have the Center Ice package so I can watch any game I want and there is the NHL network where I can watch highlights of every game, all day long.

ESPN absolutely s*cks. They have no interest in hockey and they force feed basketball to their viewers since they carry the games. Why watch 28 minutes of slam dunk highlights to see 10 seconds of hockey coverage? I never watch ESPN anymore and it is wonderful. Do I care if the average American likes hockey? No.

I am done with the Bettman selling the NHL to all of North America propaganda. I really don't care if the NHL is on Versus, CBS, ABC etc. NHL center ice is expensive but it eliminates the Network ( ESPN ) prerogative of showing games in big markets. Jmbc14, are you trying to say the NHL goes through ebbs and flows of popularity and resultant of that fact, the NHL has a difficult time maintaining a Network over a long period of time? If so I am not for national broadcasts, I'd rather have NHL center ice where I can choose what I want to watch most of the time. In the near future you will pay a nominal fee per game via on demand or the internet for your HD screen.

Here is something I don't understand: Why do NHL fans want the NHL to be more popular? With the CenterIce package, the NHL Network and the internet, it's not like we're lacking exposure to the game. The more popular the game becomes, the more difficult it is to get tickets and the more expensive the tickets become.Posted by Not-A-Shot

I've always felt that fans don't know what they are asking for. Hockey doesn't need more exposure, because more exposure ruins sports. We don't need more commercial breaks. We don't need 100 more hack writers per city writing about the personal lives of players to hide the fact they know nothing about the sport. This will happen if hockey gets more exposure, because more exposure means adding a million fans that aren't really interested in the game, but are more infatuated with it.

Hockey has just the right amount of exposure in my opinion, we don't need primadona T.O. types sharing their opinions about the world, just leave it about the game and I'll be a happy camper.

P.S. the NFL is in the process of ruining itself right now; it wouldn't surprise me to see them cut to a commercial break in between 1st and 2nd down

Im saying that the average person will not sit down and watch an NHL game if it is on a network such as Versus because it is a channel that many people do not have/do not usually watch. Whereas if it were on ESPN I'm sure that more and more "casual" hockey fans will watch the sport thus boosting ratings. As for the importance of people watching the game and the popularity of it. Why is it a bad thing for the NHL to become a sport that is viewed by a large audience that is comparable to the number of people that watch the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. Moving the sport to ESPN will garner a larger audience that will greatly improve the stabibility of the game itself. Maybe Center Ice works for people that are die hard hockey fans, but to spread the game to a larger audience, it needs better exposure than a premium service that you have to order.

Im saying that the average person will not sit down and watch an NHL game if it is on a network such as Versus because it is a channel that many people do not have/do not usually watch. Whereas if it were on ESPN I'm sure that more and more "casual" hockey fans will watch the sport thus boosting ratings. As for the importance of people watching the game and the popularity of it. Why is it a bad thing for the NHL to become a sport that is viewed by a large audience that is comparable to the number of people that watch the NFL, MLB, NBA, etc. Moving the sport to ESPN will garner a larger audience that will greatly improve the stabibility of the game itself. Maybe Center Ice works for people that are die hard hockey fans, but to spread the game to a larger audience, it needs better exposure than a premium service that you have to order.Posted by Jmbc14

Let's say all of this happens. To the current hockey fan, what is the benefit?

In Response to Re: NHL on ESPN : Let's say all of this happens. To the current hockey fan, what is the benefit?Posted by Not-A-Shot

There isn't one. You're spot-on here.

Too many hockey fans have an inferiority complex, as if something is wrong with them because their sport isn't as "big" as the NFL, NBA, what have you. It's as if they feel they personally lack some sort of legitimacy just because not as many people watch their preferred sport as another.

It's silly. You can follow any NHL team just fine from anywhere in the US and Canada with 0 problems if you have a cable connection and/or a satellite dish (or simply the internet). Let ESPN keep celebrity poker and the NBA....hockey's fine where it is.

There is one benefit to the NHL being on ESPN - cash. Money makes the world go 'round, and if the NHL could get a decent TV contract, you wouldn't hear talk about a cutback in the salary cap, for one thing, or teams being forced to raise ticket prices.

That said, I couldn't care less about popularity. Thomas Kincaide is more popular than Van Gogh; who do I appreciate more? Popularity means less than nothing. I actually like it when the Bruins fly under the radar in New England, because then I don't get moronic gasbags like Ordway or Gaspar attempting to give opinions on them.

There is one benefit to the NHL being on ESPN - cash. Money makes the world go 'round, and if the NHL could get a decent TV contract, you wouldn't hear talk about a cutback in the salary cap, for one thing, or teams being forced to raise ticket prices. That said, I couldn't care less about popularity. Thomas Kincaide is more popular than Van Gogh; who do I appreciate more? Popularity means less than nothing. I actually like it when the Bruins fly under the radar in New England, because then I don't get moronic gasbags like Ordway or Gaspar attempting to give opinions on them.Posted by duinne

Team raise ticket prices because they've overpaid their players and because, simply, they can.

As for cutting back the salary cap, as a fan, it doesn't has any effect on me at all. If the salary cap was $15M, they'd still play 60 minutes of hockey on a sheet of ice with two blue lines, a red line and two goal lines.

ESPN has had the NHL twice now and has made it clear they don't get the advertising dollars they want so they could care less about hockey. Bettman has stated several times he is just fine with Versus that he thinks they do a great job I concur.

The NHL Center Ice package is worth every penny I dish out don't need ESPN!

Overall I am in the "who cares" category, but allow me to play devil's advocate. As NHL becomes more popular, wagering activity on it increases, which in turn increases popularity, etc. (chicken and egg here, I know). With that popularity comes a couple things.

First, comes league accountability. My opinion is that the league will have to rule and officiate in a more consistent manner to retain the betting portion of the fans. No more Savard-Cooke situations going on without penalty while other hits get multiple game suspensions. The real fans benefit from from that consistency.

Second, and this one is admittedly less speculative, is that it increases league revenue and likely ensures that the secondary players are being compensated in more competitive terms. That means talent is more likely to think hard about leaving the NHL for some other league that we are not going to watch such as the KHL. The stronger the NHL is the less likely it is for another league to become the premiere world league of hockey. That at face value might not matter to you, but it will if the NHL becomes the playing spot for players that would have been the role players of AHL teams.